Bead machine



Oct. '10, 1944. s. scHuMANN l V 2,359,798'I BEAD MACHINE Fiied Jan. 8,' 1943 2 sheets-sheet `1 TToR/VE/ Oct. l0, 1944.` is.` sHuMANN BEAD MACHINE; Filed Jan. [1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l INVENTOR. JE War/R 6am/MAW- mnmimu v l l l I T l x J l Patented Oct. 10, 1944 UNITED STATES;

TENT OFFICE BEAD MACHINE Seymour Schumann, New York, N. Y.

Application January 8, 1943, Serial No.l 471,678y

Claims. (Cl. 49-35) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for making glass beads.

One of the objects of this invention is to produce each bead individually and complete with bore in a forming operation.

Another object is to provide a machine for forming each bead complete with bore and ejecting the bead from the machine, by a simple mechanical operation, Vsuch as the depression and release of an operating member or lever.

According to the method a quantity of vitreous substance in a hot moldable state is forced or pressed into and conned in a mold, whereby there is formed the body of the bead, and provision is made for a piercing element or needle to penetrate the form as well as the formed body of the bead materia1 therein while the latter is still sufficiently hot and moldable to create the bore, meanwhile maintaining yieldable pressure upon the body of the bead.

The operating principle of the machine for practicing this process calls for a rst operating phase whereby an axially movable stamping member forces the hot moldable material into a mold against the pressure of a yieldable bottom portion thereof; and a second immediately following phase of the operation, in whichr a piercing element or needle penetrates the thus formed bead in a direction at right angles to the path of the stamping member, making the bore while the material is still sufficiently hot and moldable. The movements of the stamping member and of the piercing member are mechanically coupled in a manner to insure their proper timing and coordination.

One feature of the machineV is thatA the respective movements of the stamping member and of the piercing element are coupled by a lost motion device. While the stamping member is being advanced, lost motion is eiective to allow the piercing element to remain inactive. The stoppage of the stamping member marks the beginning of the second phase of the operation during which another lost motion allows the stamping member to remain in its bead confining position, while the piercing member is being advanced to make the bore. In a nal or return phase of the operation the piercing member is rst retracted, then the stamping member retracts while the nished bead which by that time has sufficiently cooled off, is ejected.

According to a more specific feature, the stamping member is maintained under yieldable pressure and is allowed to advance from a raised nection with thev stamping member through a,

sleeve portion surrounding the, stamping mem.- ber and capable of limited axial movement. thereon. The piercing element vis. controlled by the interconnecting. actuating member through slot-andfpin or equivalent. camming connection.

whereby the piercing element is advanced Ywhile the stamping member remains in. its beadfcon ning position. The formingv and: piercing of the bead is effected. by the two consecutive. operatingV phases which constitute the working stroke of an actuating lever, while the finished bead is. ejected incident to the return stroke. of the actuating` lever.

The. invention possesses other obiectsand fea-.- tures of advantage, some ofi which with the foregoing will be set forth in the following description. In the following description and in thel claims.. parts will be identified by specific. namesk for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic, in their application to similar parts as.

theartwill permit. In theaccompanying drawingsthere has. been illustrated the best embodi, ment of the invention known tome, but such embodiment is to` be regarded asztypical only of many possible embodiments, and the inven, tion is notte be limited thereto.

The novel features considered characteristic cinc embodiment-whenread. in connection with the accompanying. drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a part-sectional` side View: showing the machine in inactive conditionl asat the be ginning of the operation.

Fig. 2 is a similar part-sectionalfview of the. machine, however, showing the Workingpartsin position according to the end of the working or bead-producing stroke of the actuating lever.

Fig. 3 is a somewhat enlarged longitudinal section of the machine similar to that shown in Fig. 1, showing a hot moldable daub of the bead material placed on the machine at the beginning of the operation. K Fig. 4 shows the working parts in the position which they occupy at the end of the first phase of the operation, when the bead has been formed but not yet pierced.

Fig. 5 shows the parts in the position corresponding to the end oi the second operating phase when the formed bead has been pierced, the position being the same as in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a detail section of the mold, illustrating the ejection of the nished bead.

Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, are `diagrammatic detail sections indicating various operating positions of the working parts relative to each other in various stages of the bead forming and piercing operation.

The machine according to., this embodiment comprises a base frame I0 having leg portions shown as at II and I2, and the machine frame I3 proper mounted upon and supported by the base frame. vertically slidable in the machine frame is a stamping member or rod I4 in the lower end of which is held iixed a stamping die I5 as by set-screw I6. An adjustable stop collar I1 is provided upon the lower end portion of the stamping member I4, and it is adjustable by way of the set-screw I8. The upper end portion of the stamping member is provided with a length oi thread I9 upon which engages a cylindrical I body serving as a weighting body, and it may be adjusted by screwing up or down upon the stamping member I4, and locked in adjusted position as by a lock nut 2I. Fixed to the extreme upper end of the stamping member is a hand knob 22 or the like. The weighting body is vertically slidable with respect to the machine frame as in the corresponding depression 23 in the top portion of the frame.

A Xially slidable upon the stamping member I4 is a sleeve 24, and its relative sliding movement is conned between limits represented by the weighting body 20 above,` and by the collar I1 below, and it is herein termed the lost motion sleeve. The sleeve 24 is slidable in an overhanging head portion 25 of the machine frame, which has a transverse opening or passage 26 through which an actuating lever 21 may impart up and down motion to the sleeve. That is to say, the actuating lever 21 has a biiurcated upper -end portion straddling the sleeve, the short arm 21a of the lever having camming engagement with the sleeve by way of guide blocks 28 and.

29 provided on the sleeve. The actuating lever 21 is iulcrumed on the machine frame as at 30 and has a downwardly extending long portion 30a which is provided at the lower end with a treadle 3| for the operators foot shown at 32.

The sleeve 24 constitutes part of an actuating member designated as a whole by the numeral 33 which comprises as further component parts a vertical portion or member 34 rigidly interconnected with the sleeve by a horizontally extending portion or member 35. The vertical portion 34 and the horizontal portion 35 of the actuating member 33 move and are guided in a corresponding hollow portion 36 of the machine frame. The vertical portion 34 in fact is composed of a pair of identical flat component members 34a and 34h (see Fig, 3), which are interconnected at their top ends by the horizontal member 35, and at their lower ends. by a lug portion 34e or the like.

A piercing member 31 is horizontally movable in an intermediate portion 38 of the machine frame, and comprises a body portion 38a slidably guided in the frame, carrying a bead piercing needle 38h. The horizontal movement of the piercing member 31 is transverse to the direction of movement of the stamping member I4, and its movement is controlled and timed through the vertical movement of the vertical portion 34 of the actuating member 33 with which :it is operatively connected by a pin-and-slot connection C. This movement controlling connection is herein shown to comprise a pin P provided at each side of the piercing member 31 and lodging in a corresponding slot S provided in each of the cornponent members 34a and 34h of the vertical member 34.

The slot S comprises a vertical or loss motion portion L and an inclined movement producing or active'portion M.

Thus it will be seen that the actuating member 33 operatively interconnects the stamping member I4 with the piercing member 31, and :it is therefore herein termed the interconnecting actuating'member; and it will further be seen that this member 33 has a lost-motion-connection at one end with the stamping member I4 by way of the sleeve 24, and with the piercing member 31 at the other end by. Way of the pinand-slot connection C. Below there will be explained how these connections are functionally correlated so that the component phases of the operating cycle, that is Vbead stamping, beadpiercing, .and bead ejecting are realized in the proper sequence during but one reciprocation of the interconnecting actuating member 33.

The stamping member I4 and the piercing member 31 sequentially converge upon a mold 39 Xed upon a lower or front portion 40 of the machine frame. 'I'he mold comprises a hollow body `portion 4I provided with holes 42 to present horizontal passage for the bead piercing needle 38h. The mold is functionally connected with a bead ejecting device which comprises a yieldably mounted bottom portion in the form of a plunger 43 having a stop shoulder 44 to limit its upward or bead ejecting motion in the mold body portion 4I. The plunger 43 is under the pressure of a compression spring 45 yconfined between the bottom face of the plunger 43 and the upper face of a lug 4G provided upon and intermediate the ends of an arm 41. The arm 41 is pivotally mounted as at 48 upon the top of the base frame I0, and the opposite end is connected by means of a link 49 with the lug portion 34C of the interconnecting actuating member 33.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

At the beginning of the operating cycle the machine is in inoperative conditionY as in Fig. 1, where the die I5 as Well as the piercing member 31 are shown in their retracted position. In that condition the weight of the then released long arm 30a 0f the actuating lever 21 due to its weight-holds the actuating member 33 as well as the stamping member I4 in raised position, since the short arm 22a engages the sleeve portion 24 which in turn engages and supports the weighting body 20, thereby holding the stamping member I4 in its kraised position. This upper limit position of the actuating member 33 is due to the pin P of the piercing member 31 engaging the lower end of the slot S in vertical portion 34 of the actuatin-g member- 33.

According to Figs. 3r and 7 a hot moldable daub 50 of glass at the end of aglass rod 5| is then placed yon* the top -faceof the plunger 43 in preparation toits-being pressed into the mold 39. At this time the position of the operating elements is still the same, that is inactive. Next, by depressngthe treadle 3| the operators foot initiates the downward movement of the sleeve 24, that is of theentire actuating member 33. The complete downward stroke of the member 33v comprises a first phase or portion (see Figs. 4 and 8'), which permits the stamping member I4 to drop a distance a. as determined by the weighting body 23 engaging the bottom of the depression 23 in the top of machine frame. The distance a is so adjusted that the die I in its lower limit position will have'forced a suitable and substantially predetermined portion of the glass daub 52 into'the mold 39 against the pressure of the yielding plunger 43, and the die stopped substantially even with the top face of the mold. This rst phase corresponds to about half the downward` stroke of the actuating member 33. In this way the body 53 of a flat cylindrical or pill-shaped bead will have been formed and be held thus conined for the remainder or second phase or half of the downward operating stroke, during which the piercing of the bead body takes place while the formed material is still sufficiently h'ot and moldable. Y

It should be noted that, when the stamping member I4, together with the actuating member 33 will thus have moved part way downward together, the slot S will have moved to the Fig. 4 position which brings the pin P of the piercing member to the upper end of the vertical or lostmotion portion L of the slot, so that up to this point the piercing member 31 will have remained inactive or retracted as at the beginning.

Further continued depression of the treadle 3I will move the actuating member 33 through the second phase or half of its downward stroke. During this second phase the stamping member I4 will remain stationary, as the sleeve 24 moves further down and relative to the stamping member, but it will forcibly advance the piercing needle into and through the holes 42 of the mold 39 and thus pierce the formed bead body 52 until the pin P will have reached the upper end of the inclined portion M of the slot S (see Fig. 5), which represents the downward limit of the movement of the actuating member 33. If the portion M of the slot be inclined under a 45 angle, then it will be seen that at the end of this second phase the actuating member will have moved an additional distance b the same as the piercing member 31 has advanced from its Fig. 4 to its Figs. 5 and 9 position. This position incidentally is the same as the one shown in the more complete view of Fig. 2 of the machine.

Fig. shows the condition of the bead immediately preceding its ejection, that is just before the finished bead has given off enough heat to the surrounding mold, whereby it shrinks su'iciently for the upward resilient pressure of the plunger to overcome friction between the bead and the mold, whereupon the bead is ejected. It will be noted that during the rst and second phase of the operation just described, that is during the descent of the actuating member 33 from its Fig. l to its Fig. 2 position, the arm 41 of the bead ejecting device is also depressed, thereby partially de-compressing the spring 45,

which permits of adequate yield of theplunger 43'. Now when the treadlev 3I is released' by the operator, itsV weight will cause: the long arm 300i4 of the actuating lever 21 to return fromits Fig..

2 to its Fig. 1 position, and thereby move the actuating member 33 back up to its initial position, which return movement causes first the sideward withdrawal of the piercing member 3-I from the mold 39, and then upward withdrawal of the stamping member I4. The arm 41- swings.

upward concurrently with the upward return movement of the actuating member 33, thereby compressing the spring 45, thus placing increased pressure upon the plunger 43, eventually causingthe ejectionof the nished bead B (seeFig. 6).

ment relative to an upper portion of said frameand adapted to stamp hot mol'dable bead material into said mold against the-pressure of saidv yieldable bottom portion, and thereby effective to form the bead, a piercing element mounted' for horizontal movement on an intermediate portion of said frame and adapted to pierce the formed body and. to be withdrawnttherefrom f while the beadv material'is'still sufficiently moldable and while being held conned by said stamping member, and actuating means operatively interconnecting said stamping member and said piercing member for effecting the proper sequential operation thereof, which actuating means comprise an actuating member vertically slidable upon said frame for a predetermined length of stroke, and having at its upper end portion a iirst lost motion actuating connection with said stamping member, effective during a first portion of the downward stroke of the actuating member to permit downward bead forming movement of the stamping member to a lower limit bead confining position, and eiective during the remainder of said downward stroke to permit said stamping member to remain in said bead confining position, said actuating member having at its lower end portion a second lost motion actuating connection with said piercing member, effective during said first portion of said downward stroke of the actuating member to retain said piercing member in withdrawn position, and effective during said remainder of said downward stroke to advance said piercing member horizontally into the bead, said rst and second lost motion connections also being effective during the upward return stroke of said actuating member lirst to Iwithdraw said piercing member from the bead while the stamping member holds the -bead conned, and then to lift the stamping member to permit ejection of the bead from the mold, and means for reciprocating said actuating member.

2. A machine according to claim 1, in which said means for reciprocating the actuating member comprises a foot operated lever fulcrumed on said frame, and having a short and a long arm, a camming operating connection between said short arm and the actuating member, said long arm having means for the actuation of the lever by foot.

3. A machine according to claim l, in which said first lost motion actuating connection comprises a sleeve portion constituting a fixed part of said actuating member, and surrounding and vertically slidable upon said up-and-down movable stamping member, whereby said sleeve portion is slidably guided in said frame, and said stamping member slidably guided in said sleeve portion.

4. A machine according to claim 1, in which the second lost motion actuating connection comprises a slot-and-pin connection between the actuating member and the piercing element, the slot having a lower .vertical portion whereby the pin and thus the piercing member is allowed to remain stationary in withdrawn position during said first portion of the downward stroke of the actuating member, said slot further having an upper inclined portion whereby said pin and thus said piercing member is advanced horizontally during said remainder of the downward stroke of the actuating member.

5. A machine according to claim 1, in which said yieldable bottom portion of the mold constitutes a part of a bead ejecting device comprising a substantially horizontally extending arm one end of which is pivotally mounted on said frame, and the other end of which is movably connected with the lower end portion of said actuating member, so as to swing in harmony with the up and down` movement of the actuating member, and a compression spring interposed between an intermediate portion of said arm and said bottom portion of the mold.

6. A machine according toclaim l, with the addition that the stamping member is weighted.

'7. A machine according to claim 1, with the addition that the upper end portion of said stamping member is provided with a thread, and that a correspondingly tapped cylindrical Weight member is concentric with said stamping member and vertically adjustable along said thread.

8. A machine according to claim 1, with the addition of an adjustable stop member mounted upon the upper end portion of said stamping member, and engageable by the upper end portion of said actuating member.

9. A machine according to claim 1, with the addition of a stop member vertically adjustable upon the lower end portion of the stamping member and disposed below said rst lost motion actuating connection.

10. A machine according to claim l, in which said actuating member comprises an upper tubular sleeve-like portion surrounding and Vvertically slidable upon said stamping member along a portion between the ends thereof, and constituting a part of said rst lost motion connection, a lower vertical portion extending parallel to and horizontally spaced from said tubular portion, and constituting a part of said second lost mo-4 tion connection, and a horizontal portion xedly interconnecting said Vupper tubular portion with said lower vertical portion.

SEYMOUR SCHUMANN. 

